The Snark Factor #463 welcomes CNBC financial guru and author Carol Roth to talk about how the situation in Ukraine is affecting the financial markets, President Obama’s non existent budget and why Fingers should shop at Brooks Brothers and not Forever 21.

Breaking news out of Cuba on Tuesday as former Cuban President Fidel Castro resigned from his post as first secretary in the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The move was made after a series of reforms had been passed by the Communist Party Congress that introduced minor free market reforms to the island nation’s economy. Among the reforms passed were term limits for “elected” officials and state job cuts.

Fidel Castro confirmed his exit from the Communist Party leadership on Tuesday, ceding power to his brother Raul as delegates prepare to vote on changes that could bring term limits to key posts.

The move came after the sixth Communist Party Congress approved a flurry of measures on Monday aimed at keeping Cuba’s centrally planned economy from collapse but without any broad embrace of market-oriented change.

…Reforms include the eventual trimming of a million state jobs and the decentralization of the agricultural sector.

In a move that has shocked party loyalists inside Cuba, rumors run rampant that Castro has sent people to Iowa to test the waters for a Fidel in 2012 presidential run. I talked to a senior Castro adviser, James Carville, who expressed hope that Castro could challenge President Obama in next year’s election.

Obama is weak and has moved too far to the left. He is destroying the Democratic Party that was once led by the great Jimmy Carter. He’s hiring too many people and expanding government too much. We believe we can, at the very least, pull Mr. Obama to the right a little bit.

Let’s talk about term limits in this campaign. Let’s talk about cutting state workers off the payrolls. How about eliminating farm subsidies? I mean, I love socialism as much as the next guy but even I see that the Obama administration has gone too far.

I could not reach anyone at the White House for comment. I did run into film director Michael Moore outside a Denny’s in Flint, Michigan. He was stunned that Castro would challenge Obama. Commenting on Castro’s 2012 chances, Moore said:

This is silly. How can he say the United States needs to cut government jobs? That’s easy for him to say. Cuba has a fantastic infrastructure. Their schools are top notch. They have the best health care in the world. For crying out loud they are Cuba! They set the standard for all of us.

The United States needs to continue President Obama’s policies. We need more federal workers. We need more shovel ready jobs. It should be a fundamental right of every American to have access to Cuban style health care. Just when we are getting close to becoming a paradise like Cuba, Castro wants to ruin it. I guess this is his revenge for the Bay of Pigs. Got any Tums?

Wait…he wasn’t born in this country was he?

When I brought up Castro’s citizenship, Carville laughed and stated for the record:

What is Michael Moore a birther? Fidel was born in San Francisco. He has a long form birth certificate. Our comrade Governor Jerry Brown will vouge for us.

The White House today announced the suspension of all military operations in Libya effective immediately after it was discovered that the rebels fighting to oust Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi are being fully funded by the conservative Koch Brothers. Over the years the billionaire Koch brothers have donated millions of dollars to right wing think tanks, and now they want to expand their reach to the Middle East.

From the beginning of the Libyan uprising, there have been questions as to who the rebels are–and who is supporting them. Many had speculated that the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah or even Al Qaeda were backing the Libyan rebel forces.

But an internal rebel document uncovered by Media Matters contains detailed rebel plans for the eventual overthrow of the Gaddafi regime. After the regime change, they will form a new political party named:

Prosperity for

All the

LIbyan

Nation…or PALIN.

Once the State Department caught wind of the Koch brothers/PALIN connection, officials immediately made a 3:00 AM phone call to the White House. Nobody answered the phone.

Fortunately, the State Department was aware of an 8:00 AM tee time that President Obama had scheduled today at the Washington Golf and Country Club–where he was then briefed on the whole situation at the fifth tee by Vice President Biden, Joy Behar and Danny Bonaduce.

The White House later released a statement explaining why it was decided to end all military operations in Libya.

While we can all agree that Muammar Gaddafi has been a brutal dictator that has thrived on the murder and the suffering of his own people, he’s not as bad as the Koch brothers. We have uncovered plans by the Koch/PALIN alliance to bring the flat tax to Libya. They are also plotting to eliminate collective bargaining rights in Tripoli.

Let me be clear, we can not allow the gains that the Libyan people have made to be wiped out by risky free market schemes. So we will withdraw all of our forces and immediately turn over all military command and control decisions over to the French. That should end well.

After the news broke of the Koch Brothers’ influence in Libya, an exasperated Chris Matthews went on MSNBC and had this to say:

Is this what it has come down to? Look Gadhafi is no saint. He has murdered and tortured his own people. And yes there are many political prisoners in Libya–but at least he wants to provide his people health care. You think a Koch or PALIN cares about health care? Clearly we can now see that the Libyan uprising is not about freedom–and all about oil. Have we checked to see if Halliburton is in on this too?

1) “Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s.”

A. Barack Obama
B. Dan Quayle
C. Sarah Palin

2) “I’ve now been in 57 states — I think one left to go.”

A. Barack Obama
B. Dan Quayle
C. Sarah Palin

3) “On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in the audience here today.”

A. Barack Obama
B. Dan Quayle
C. Sarah Palin

4) “What they’ll say is, ‘Well it costs too much money,’ but you know what? It would cost, about… It — it — it would cost about the same as what we would spend… It… Over the course of 10 years it would cost what it would costs us… (nervous laugh) All right. Okay. We’re going to… It… It would cost us about the same as it would cost for about — hold on one second. I can’t hear myself. But I’m glad you’re fired up, though. I’m glad.”

6) “I bowled a 129. It’s like – it was like the Special Olympics, or something.”

A. Barack Obama
B. Dan Quayle
C. Sarah Palin

7) “Of the many responsibilities granted to a president by our Constitution, few are more serious or more consequential than selecting a Supreme Court justice. The members of our highest court are granted life tenure, often serving long after the presidents who appointed them. And they are charged with the vital task of applying principles put to paper more than 20 centuries ago to some of the most difficult questions of our time.”

A. Barack Obama
B. Dan Quayle
C. Sarah Palin

8) “Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a, a breathalyzer, or inhalator, not a breathalyzer. I haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours.”

A. Barack Obama
B. Dan Quayle
C. Sarah Palin

9) “It was … interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. There’s a lot of — I don’t know what the term is in Austrian — wheeling and dealing…”

A. Barack Obama
B. Dan Quayle
C. Sarah Palin

10) “I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.”

A. Barack ObamaB. Dan Quayle
C. Sarah Palin

So yes, all but one of these gems came from President Obama. Before I start hearing from libs about how stupid Sarah Palin is, I remind you that you can get all of your Sarah Palin bashing at a number places, including but not limited to:

I could go on but you get the point. In the end, all politicians say stupid things. The difference is that if you are lucky enough to be a democrat and say something dumb, you get a free pass (see Joe Biden).

Earlier today, a heavily armed leftist nut-job by the name of James Jay Lee stormed the Discovery Channel Communications building in Maryland. He was motivated by his hatred for human population growth and babies that kill Mother Earth.

Hopped up on Al Gore lies and Sanka, he had a list of demands that he wanted met before he would release any hostages. For the entire text of his demands, click here.

The situation is now under control after police shot Lee. No word yet if he decided to not have the bullets removed–and relieve Mother Earth of the burden of his existence.

As you know, The Snark Factor is never satisfied unless we do our own research. I discovered six of Lee’s demands not reported by any other media outlet. This is the kind of journalistic excellence that has not been seen since the Teapot Dome Scandal.

The Lee 6–in his own words.

1- Bring back Crystal Pepsi. I loved drinking it with slow gin.

2- I want an autographed picture of Menudo. The original lineup, NO TRICKS!

3- I want a Toyota Prius filled with the following items; 6 copies of An Inconvenient Truth, Keith Olbermann’s hair brush and a ball cap that was worn by Michael Moore.

4- I want my own show on MSNBC. In fact, give me Ed Schultz’s time slot. I also want his bucket of crazy.

6- I want a beer summit with President Obama at the White House. The guest list will include Kathy Griffin, Dustin Diamond, the ghost of Gary Coleman, Carrot Top, Linda Lavin, John Cusack, Joan Cusack and Snookie.